Face and head protective device



March 26, 1940. c. E. BOWERS FACE AND HEAD PROTECTIVE DEVICE Filed Nov. 15. 1938 INVENTOR. 'wzms 4 mm Eon e25 Patented Mar. 26, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT omen 2,194,492 FACE AND HEAD PROTECTIVE DEVICE Charles Evans Bowers, Chester, Pa. I Application November 15, 1938, Serial No. 240,442

4 Claims. This invention has to do with protective devices of the type worn on the head of a person for protecting the face, eyes,- and/or the head from injury incident to welding, grinding or'other dan- 5 gerous industrial operations.

Protective devices of this type include, as a characteristic element, a headband which fits on the wearers head and carries the shielding part itself.

Accordingly the invention has in view, as a highly important object, the provision of a protective device of the character. above noted which includes a headband comprising two parts which are pivotally joined together whereby the headband is adapted to snugly fit the head of the wearer. Another object is the provision of such a two part headband provided with means by which it may be rendered adjustable as to head encompassing extent to insure accurate and snug 2 fitting on the wearers head.

More in detail the invention contemplates a two part headband of the character above noted, and one part of which includes means torender the headband adjustable as to its extent whereby the peripheral size of the headband as an entirety may be adjusted.

Bearing in mind the dangerous conditions to which the wearer is subjected for long periods of time it is easily seen that the headband which carries the protective device should be positioned on the wearers head in a secure, accurate and comfortable manner. The accomplishment of this desired resultis of utmost importance and a foremost object of this invention.

In many fields of industrial work it becomes important to protect the upper portion of the face of a worker, and particularly the eyes, from conditions attending the work being done, say

for instance -'the sparks coming from welding operations carried out in assembly work. Ac-

cording y. this invention has in view, as an important'objective, thefprovision of a protective device including a. transparent shield curved toconform/to the shape of awearer'shead and adapted to cover the upper portion of the face of a wearer, togetherwith means for mounting the same-on the wearers head. More in detail the invention has in view, as an object, the provision of the shield for the upper portion of a worker's face which is made from a flexible, transparent material having desiredprotective and noninflammable qualities which may be readily bent into a required curved formation. Associated with this material are means for imparting to the same rigidly to maintain its curved shape and perform its required shielding functions.

A particular object of the invention is the provision, in a protective device of the character above noted, of a transparent shield made from 5 a flexible material the edges of which are lined with a metallic framework to impart rigidity thereto.

Under conditions of actual-usage it is not nec-' essary that the shield be in effective position in 10 front of the upper portion of a worker's face at all times, there being many prolonged intervals in which its use is not required. The invention, therefore, has in view, as a further objective, the

' provision of a protective device of the character is pivotally attached.

Another more detailed object of the invention is the provision, in a device of the character above noted, of frictional devices associated with the pivotal mounting of the shield whereby the 39 latter maintains any adjusted position.

In pivotally'mounting the shield 0n the headband a curved strip is preferably pivotally secured at each end'to the headband, and the shield,

i together with its-'rigidifying framework, depends 3 from this strip.. An important object of the in-' vention is to provide for a; detachable connection between the shield and the pivotally. mounted strip which provides for the ready replacement of the shield element as occasiondemands.

Yet another important object of the invention is the provision, in a protective device of the character above noted, of a. two part headband the parts of which are pivotally joined together,

and the front part of which carries means adapted to cover the front portion of a wearer's head. This covering means not only serves in the positioning and fitting of the device, but also provides protective effects for that portion of the wearer's head which it covers.

- To the end of insuring of good protectiveef- I fects on the part of the covering for the front portion of a worker's head the invention has as 'an object the provision, on the front headband part, of means for spacing the same slightly may take the form of a leather sweatbandthat from the wearer's head. Such means may take the form of a flexible sweatband that lines the front part of the headband. band providing a slightly spaced relationship, and with the covering formed of a rigid material, good protective effects are provided.

Yet another important object of the invention is the provision, in a protective device of the tive device which includes a. two part headband the parts of which are pivotally attached together, with the rear part adjustable as to its extent, while the front part carries a head covering together with means for spacing the same from the wearer's head. Pivotally secured to the headband, preferably on the same pivot pins with the two parts thereof, is a strip which detachably carries a protective shield which is made from a transparent, flexible material that is curved to a required formation and provided with metallic framework on its peripheral edges.

For a full and more complete .understanding of the invention reference may be'had to the following description and accompanying draw 3 ing, wherein: v

. Figure I is a side view, with parts broken away, of a face and head protector made in accordance with this invention and illustrated as applied to the .headof a wearer,

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the protector, Figure}! is an enlarged detailed view developing the mode of detachably securing the shieldto the pivotally-mounted strip,

Figure 4 is an enlarged detailed section through and which may be suitably shaped while in a plastic state, therebeing certain fibrous ma-- and having the required terials now well-known properties. v Y

Integrally formed with the front headband part I0 is a head covering, designated 12, which a is designed to cover the upper portion ofthe front part of a workershead. Theloweredge of the front part It carries asweatband which,

is bent over the bottom edge of thep'art and detachably secured thereto as by ,the detachable fastening elements (snap"fastenersii shown at ll. It is evident that the portionof' the sweaty band I 3 which lines the inner surface of the front part Ill serves to slightly space the latter from the wearer's head.

With this sweat- .The rearpart ll consists ofastrip I! which' is pivotally secured at one end to the front part II), and which strip underlies and engages a second'strip 16 that is also secured to the front part It. This outer strip I6 is formed with a slot ll, while the strip l5 carries a headed screw l8 the threaded stem of which extends through the slot II. The screw l8, adjacentits head, is formed with a noncircular portion that is, snugly received in a complementally shaped opening in gages the outer end portion of the sleeve IS. A m

wing nut 22 is screwed on the screw l8, and when tightened serves to maintain the strips l5 and IS in an adjusted position. However, this nut 22 may be loosened to permit of adjustment in an obvious manner. When the wing nut..-

-22 isto be operated the screw" is held against rotation by the reception of the noncircular portion adjacent to its head in the opening in the strip l5.

At this point it is well to note that the rear 80 headbandpart may include any other known arrangement for providing adjustments to the extent thereof, the particular arrangement illustrated being intended as no invention. i v I One pivotal connection between the extremi- I ties of the strips l5 and I6 and the front part II is depicted in Figure 4 andis shown' as comprising a pivot pin 23 which is headed on its inner end, as shown at 24, the head engagin the limitation on the inner face of the frontpart Ill. It is to be'l'er membered that the front part Ill carries the sweatband l3; thus the head 24 in no way takes away from the snugness of the fit of the band on the worker's head.

The pivot pin 23 extends through aligned openings in the front part III 'and the respective strip of the, rear part II, and at its outer end passes through'an opening in a shield carrying strip 25; Between the strip 25 and the rear part II there is interposed 'a friction device, which may take any known form, but which preferably consists of a central washer 26 of a good friction material, and on each side of which are disposed metallic washers2'l. V I

Onthe outer face of the strip 25- thepin 23 may'also carry another metallic washer '28, and the endjof this pivot pin (may be peened over, as shown at 29, to maintain the assembled relationship of the various parts carried thereby.

To the end of facilitating this peening over of ,the end of the pin 23, the latter'is preferably of a hollow construction. a

The shield carrying strip 25 is of acurved formation and is disposed in spaced relationship in front of the front headband part II. This strip 25 may have integrally formed therewith anupwardly extending portion 3| that, it .is noted, isspaced from the head cover l2.

nated 23. Itis to beunderstood thatasmany of head- 1 As is clearly brought-out in Figure 3, one part ".o'ffa snap fastening element is secured to the the snap fastening elements 3| and 33 as are 7 required will be included on the shield carrying I flammable I qualities.

available to the public.

. The shield 32 is lined oneach side and at the bottom by a metallic framework designated 34,

which framework serves to impart rigidity to v the shield 32 and causes the same to maintainthe curved formation illustrated.

The framework 34 may take the U-shaped cross section illustrated in Figure 3, and may be secured to the shield 32 by punching depressions on the inner face of the framework part 34, as shown at 35. The formation of these depressions 35 cause corresponding projections between the flanges deflning the frame, and which projections engage and slightly bite into the shield 33 to main tain the assembled relationship.

With the protective device positioned in themanner shown in Figure 1 it is notable that the shield 32 is maintained in spaced relationship from the front face of the wearer, and the shield carrying strip 25, together with the upwardly extending portion 30, is spaced from the front headband part III and the cover l2. Thus ventilation on the'inner side of the shield is assuredto prevent clouding of the shield, which ordinarily might be caused by exhalation from the wearer's nose.

The shield 32 is maintained in the position illustrated due to the friction devices 26 and 21. However, the effect of these friction devices may be readily overcome and the shield swung up into the out-of-the-way position depicted by the broken line showing of Figure 1. If under conditions of usage the shield 32 should become dam-' aged, it may be readily replaced, due to the detachable connection at 3l 33 with the carrying strip 25.

It is also important to note that with the pivotal connection between the headband parts III and II, and with the extent of the-rear part I I adjustable, the headband may be adjusted to flt the head of any particular wearer. Thus the rear part II may assume. an angular position with respect to the'front part It), -as shown by the broken lines of Figure 1 8 Y While a preferred speciflc embodiment of the invention is hereinbefore set forth it is' to be clearly understood that the invention is not to be limited to the exact constructions illustrated and described, because various modifications of 10 these details may be provided in putting'the invention into practice within the purview of the appended claims.

I claim:

.1. A protective device of the characterde- 15 scribed comprising a headband, said headband consisting of two parts pivotally connected together, and a shield .pivotally mounted on the pivotal connection between said headband parts.

' 2. A protective device of the character described comprising a headband, said headband consisting of two parts pivotally connectedtogether, a shield pivotally mounted on the pivotal connection between said headband parts, and friction devices associated with the pivotal mountings for maintaining said shield in an adjusted position. I

3. A headband for protective devices comprising a band having overlapping ends, one of said ends having a slot therein, a bolt having a head, a portion extending through said slot, means for preventing rotation of said bolt, a flat tubular casing encircling said ends and said bolt head and formed with an opening through which said bolt passes.

and means on said bolt for clamping said ends a in desired relation to each other.

4. A headband for protective devices comprising a band having overlapping ends, one of said ends having a slot therein, a casing encircling said overlapping ends about said slotted end and 49 having overlapping extremities formed with open- 'ings aligned with each other and with said slot, 

